Mysterious DNA Groups

[Phoenix]

Each of the DNA samples I manage has at least one group where a large number of people (in one case over 300) are related to each other, and apparently to me, but I cannot find out how.

With that large group, I suspect that someone emigrated to America three centuries ago and spread their genes within a very small total gene pool.

Can Protools help? I suspect that I will disappear down the rabbit hole, to emerge many months later none the wiser, as that obdurate segment doesn't relate to anyone else in my matches.

[kiterunner]

I have some of those groups and ProTools hasn't solved any of them yet, sorry. I live in hope though.

[Phoenix]

Thanks, Kite. My feeling is that some of those groups are so disparate that connections have got to be a long way back, probably through female ancestors that nobody has ever heard of.

I will, however, join up to tackle some of Dad's side. I'm fairly sure I've nailed a distant uncle who emigrated to Newfoundland a couple of centuries ago. While this has got to be complicated by the small community syndrome, it would be good to find some solid proof!

[kiterunner]

Still, now that it lets you sort shared matches by the amount of DNA shared with the other person, I might have another go with one of those groups and see if I get anywhere.

[Mary from Italy]

I hadn't realised you could do that now, that's a big help.

[marquette]

My Dad has a large group of mysterious DNA matches (like 100), who are all descendants of a man or woman born about 1750 in New Jersey. The matches are spread over 3 of their sons, at this stage. Dad also has a small group of second cousins here is Australia who share these matches.

Before, ProTools, I worked out which part of the family (from Sussex) should be the link, but the woman's parents were supposedly from the German Palantine, as was the man's father's family. His mother is claimed to be an American Mohawk woman, un-named.

More recently, some claimed this woman was only half-Mohawk, but the mystery remains as trying to trace someone born in the early 1700s in the large web of Sussex family is difficult.

I don't think ProTools will help further with this but am definitely having a look at them. It tells me how the closest of Dad's matches are related to each other, but I had mostly worked that out from their trees.

What I would dearly love is a Chromosone match map, so I could see if they all share the same bit of DNA, or different bits spread over the family.

There is a chance that descendants of one granddaughter of the above man, share DNA from another family who were early migrants to America, which I am trying to follow up.
(A search on ancestral surnames threw up a small group who have one of Dad's ancestral names in their trees) but the matches are very small, so could be false positives, but the trees match up (to the extent that few go back beyond the American part).

[kiterunner]

Marquette, if you download your DNA data from Ancestry and upload it to MyHeritage and / or FamilyTreeDNA, you will probably find some of that group of matches are on those sites and you will be able to use a chromosome browser to see exactly what DNA segment(s) they share with you.

[marquette]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

Marquette, if you download your DNA data from Ancestry and upload it to MyHeritage and / or FamilyTreeDNA, you will probably find some of that group of matches are on those sites and you will be able to use a chromosome browser to see exactly what DNA segment(s) they share with you.

Thanks, I had forgotten that. My DNA is on FTDNA already, but I am not a match to any of those on Ancestry! Dads is on GEDMatch, but I find that pretty hard to use.